Friday, October 31, 2014

I wonder if your packing is done. I wonder how you are feeling! I hope that by now you are more happy that condo construction is under way than sad about leaving your home of so many years. The Doug Steiger families and John Lichtenberg clan have such special memories from Basswood Bend. Thank you for sharing it with us for so many years.

I think that your departure date is November 1. Safe travels to you! Enjoy sunshine and being close to Laurie, Chip, and Dylan. We'll see you in the summer.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

1. We have toted many, many bags of trash out of the house. It's mostly things that have outlived their usefulness, are expired, really old, or just not worth keeping.

2. We have toted many, many bags of recycling out of the house as well. The recycling bags fill up every day - it's so astonishing and incredible - our version of shock and awe.

3. We have donated over a thousand dollars worth of items to the Women's Resource Center and to Goodwill over the past few weeks. Clothing, sports equipment, bicycles, helmets, household items, dishes, coffee mugs, and so on and so on! Whew! But it does ease the guilt of getting rid of things.

4. I have learned that I have too many things that are precious to me. There are some things that I just cannot part with - most especially old letters, my fat lady sculpture, and a teddy bear.

5. Even though I have gradually been getting rid of old clothes for months now, I still have way, way too many clothes. It's very hard to choose what goes into storage, what goes to Florida, what I will wear on the road south. I change my mind every day.

6. Adam, Barb and Chris have really helped us clear things out. Adam has really helped Dick with the barns, and with storing some things for us. Barb has accepted some historic family items from Mother Gen and some other things as well. Sharon took GenFest items and some pantry things that I'm not allowed to eat! They've all been so helpful.

7. I'm so glad that we have hired a moving company to take all of our things to storage. I'm not so sure what we would have done otherwise.

8. We have too much china, too much crystal, and too many everyday dishes.

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This week we have been working with the vendors for our yet-to-be-built condo. We have seen Deb at Floor Covering Brokers, Erica at Kitchen Choreography, and Beth at Nature's Edge. We have pretty much finalized all wood floors, tile, carpeting, counter tops, cabinets, sinks and tubs.

Next project is to select appliances - refrigerator, stove, micro hood, dishwasher, washer and dryer. Whew. We have met with Rebecca at Sears, and with Dave at Max's. We are leaning strongly toward Max's. We really like the Frigidaire Gallery series of appliances with the brushed stainless steel (no fingerprints!).

After today, we'll be in T.C. for five more days only. Our countdown has begun. I feel like Robert Frost - "And miles to go before I sleep."

Monday, October 20, 2014

We wanted new johns in two bathrooms, so they went shopping, hired a plumber, waited around for the plumber to come, and so now we have two new johns!

Laurie didn't like the blinds in the office, so she went shopping, and now there are new blinds in there! She also found an office file cabinet - we really did need that!

Chip didn't like the trash set up in the kitchen, so now we have an under the sink pull out trash bin! How great is that?

The washer and dryer were sitting on a cement slab, which didn't sit well with Laurie. Now we have indoor-outdoor tiles in that area, and the tiles are non-skid! Checking out the installation, Chip discovered a small leak in the hot water line. So the plumber was called back out, and now we are back in the laundry business! Wow.

And that's not even counting the time last summer when Laurie went over to our house and discovered that the AC was not working. That can be really devastating in humid Florida! So she called the repairman, and of course had to wait for him to show up and fix the AC. We feel so super lucky to have these two looking out for us :)

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Our day was well planned - first the dentist, then the blood test, drop book at library, shop for a jet tub for our new condo, and maybe get lunch somewhere, and then go home and pack some dishes.

Day began at the dentist for the routine 6 month cleaning and check-up. It was long - she numbed my gums - a new experience - and so the mouth felt weird through the whole thing. But all is well and I don't go back for another 6 months. It took one hour and ten minutes.

We were at Thirlby Clinic for a blood draw and a pneumonia shot for Dick. All I did was to ask if Dr. Burke could fit me in sometime soon for a consultation about my recent elevated heart rate. After a lengthy discussion with his nurse (Barb) she and Dick convinced me that I should go to the ER. I kept repeatedly saying I don't want to do that, I really don't want to do that! I remember going to the ER with Mom a couple of times and remember it being tiring, stressful, frustrating, and lengthy - especially lengthy.

To make a very long story very short, we went to the ER. We were there for seven (7) (VII) hours!! We saw Annie, Renee the nurse, Dr. Fowler (I really liked him), Sarah for blood draw, another Sarah for chest x-ray, Megan for another blood draw, Kelly for transport to nuclear med., Molly for the VQ test (?) - it's testing how efficiently your body is delivering oxygen or something - I have to look it up:

[The test is performed in the radiology department of a hospital or in an outpatient facility. You are asked to put on a hospital gown. Once you are ready, multiple pictures of your chest are taken from different angles, using a special camera that detects the radionuclide. For half of these pictures, you are asked to breathe from a tube that has a mixture of air, oxygen, and a slightly radioactive version of a gas called xenon, which can be detected by the camera, and which measures airflow in different parts of the lung. For the other half of the pictures, the camera tracks the injected radionuclide to determine blood flow in different parts of the lung.]

Dick is reading a great book with good stories about growing up in northern Michigan at the turn of the century and beyond. He kept me entertained reading me some of the best ones. He had his iPad and I had my phone, and of course there are also magazines around, but it all gets old quickly. Hours
of waiting - but even after infusing 2 liters of saline to increase fluid volume, my pulse was still jumping all around. I felt fine - not dizzy, didn't feel sick at all - just tired of being there.

Dr. Fowler came in at last and summarized: kidneys are working well, no pulmonary problems, heart rate is high because of low blood volume - heart has to work harder. Stop taking diuretics. Drink plenty of fluids and call Dr. Burke in the morning.

Finally, we were free at last. Had a late dinner at Rico's - we hadn't eaten since breakfast. Have to check in with Dr. Burke in the morning.

To summarize, today I got 8 hours and ten minutes of medical attention, and all I got out of it was clean teeth.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Met with Beccy, Lynne and Brian this morning to sign the purchase agreement for our soon-to-be-built condo.

We had a very productive meeting : altering the floor plan a bit, discussing floors, cabinets, etc. etc. and swapping stories.

Beccy is the one who keeps us all on track - asks all of the most important questions, and just generally gives us good support. She is actually looking forward to taking over the planning and implementation of plans while we're in Florida.

We felt good when we left. Our first assignment is to pick out appliances - make, model numbers, etc. so that Brian can plan accordingly. Everything is included in our allowances except for the washer and dryer.

We had lunch at the Omelette Shoppe for the first time in ages. Belgian waffle with fresh strawberries is still the best!

Then Dick got a clean bill of health for another year from Dr. Gillette, so that's another big plus.

Found this video on Facebook, and it just shows why I love that show! :

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Adam came over this morning with the trailer and cleaned out the barns - hooray - another big job done. he has been such a big help to us in trying to empty things out.

John and Sharon drove up from Lansing to say good-by to the house and the river. We had fun visiting, and they helped by carting away some things from our pantry - less for us to deal with!
Barb met us all at Schelde's for brunch, and it was so enjoyable. The food was delicious, and the conversation was even better. We had a wonderful time seeing all three of them! What a terrific day.

In the evening we got a "keeping in touch" phone call from Susan. She volunteered to come up and help us any time we need help with the packing, sorting, etc. So far all of our girls (Laurie, Jana, Barb, Sharon, Melanie and Susan have offered to help us out that way. We're doing OK on our own so far, but we'll see....crunch time is fast approaching!

Sharon sent this email after their visit - it is so thoughtful and sweet - it really touched me:

Hi Uncle Dick and Aunt Nan:

It was so great to visit with you on Sunday. Thanks again for a delicious brunch and great company. You both are doing a remarkable job sorting and packing up all of your house. I know that it has to be a bitter sweet experience, but I am sure it has brought you some smiles, chuckles and great memories as you have uncovered mementos that you didn't even remember than you had. Your home on the Boardman will always hold wonderful memories for all of us. We are so grateful for all of the time we were able to spend there. We were all so lucky that you chose to spend so many years there and include all of our extended family in so many special adventures.

Now you get to make new memories in Florida and eventually in your new condo in TC. I think you said that today is when you sign the purchase agreement. Hope that goes well. I was excited to see the location of your new condo and think it is really a beautiful area and very convenient to get to everything.

Stay in touch and if you need us to come up and help you finish packing, etc. just let me know.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

We went back out to look at our hole in the ground. Progress has been made, and most of the framing for the footings has been done. My fingers are crossed for continued fast progress!

And now for something entirely different from MLive.com: The Wolverines, playing with a tattered offense, clawed and scrapped and fought -- and even limped -- their way out of hell, for now, with an 18-13 win over Penn State. They found out that they can win a football game again. They found out that not quitting was the right move. They found out what leadership means. And, just as important, they found out that -- despite nasty talk of boycotts and protests angeneral rage -- they've still got perhaps the biggest fan base in America supporting them.

Thursday, October 09, 2014

Another paracentesis, this one ordered by Dr. Barnes, to be followed by an infusion of albumin. I'll have to look that up. (Tech Natalie, Dr. Space ) We were at the hospital at 7:45, and we were all finished by 11:30, so it wasn't so bad.

Dick is so great - he very patiently waits with me, reads his book, and is just generally available for conversation or whatever.